BCG drops the Future of Digital Assets. Tokenized assets set to explode. Key implications for financial institutions.

Tokenized RWAs could reach ~16% of global investable assets by 2035 says BCG's Future of Digital Assets report.

Here are the key takeaways for financial institutions.

1️⃣ Digital asset in numbers

Crypto: ~$3T market, main revenue pool today

Stablecoins: ~$300B, fastest-growing monetary layer

Tokenized RWAs: ~$30B, small now but biggest long-term impact

 👉 Implication: Crypto trading has led the market growth until today but the future is about control over money movement + asset servicing + market infrastructure.

2️⃣ Risk and Opportunities for financial institutions as tokenized RWAs reach ~16% of global investable assets by 2035

Downside risks to banks:

~10% smaller balance sheets

~14% lower revenues

~30% lower profits by 2035 versus the no digital-asset case

👉 Implication: Losing client interface, balance sheet relevance, and infrastructure control

Upside opportunities:

- Asset management: +15–30% revenue uplift via tokenized funds

- Trading/capital markets: higher RoE via faster settlement + collateral efficiency

- Corporate banking: new treasury + cross-border payment rails

- Retail/wealth: reclaim wallet + custody + lending relationships

👉 Implication: Value moves from intermediation → interface + orchestration + infrastructure

3️⃣ The 3 critical battlegrounds

- Digital money: Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, CBDCs

This is the biggest near-term threat to payments & deposits business.

- Tokenized RWAs: Funds, bonds, collateral, repo

Tokenization is transforming core plumbing of capital markets. And this has MASSIVE implications for control of the rails on which every financial market transaction relies on. See below.

- Crypto: Largest today, but not the main strategic story

➡️ What actually drives adoption

Four conditions must align:

- Real customer demand

- Regulatory clarity

- Bank-grade infrastructure

- Interoperability across systems

➡️ The core strategic tension

This is the question every bank is facing: Is blockchain just better plumbing for the current system? Or a new system that displaces incumbents?

👉  Nobody knows yet. That’s the problem.

➡️ What management should do (practical)

Stop treating this as innovation → treat as strategy

Build no-regret capabilities:

- Wallets & custody

- Risk & control systems

- Digital asset platform

Focus on 2–3 real use cases (not pilots). Preserve optionality across multiple futures.

➡️ The subtle but the most significant point:

👉 This is not about products. That's narrow thinking. It is about who operates the financial system’s control points:

• Digital money format

• Tokenized fund infrastructure

• Settlement rail

• Custody setup

• Client interface

Whoever owns those wins.

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